An apparatus is known from the leaflet “Das CORNUFLEX Compact System”, edition January 1985 by the Applicant. The known apparatus includes a fixing element being made of metal, namely metal bars being interconnected by welding to form two consoles. The two consoles are part of a fixing device to be connected to a wall. It is desired to connect the two consoles with a respective horizontal distance with respect to one another at a wall, for example by using plugs and screws. The fixing device also includes a number of transverse bars being supported in bearings being located at the consoles. Each transverse bar serves to support a roll on which a plurality of identical items is wound up. Due to the horizontal distance between the consoles with respect to one another, the maximum width of a roll to be located on a transverse bar to be freely rotatable is determined. In garages, rolls of articles having different widths are required. For example, a roll on which a number of interconnected floor carpets is wound up is substantially shorter than a roll on which seat covers or tire wheels are wound up. This means that the rolls of the different items have different lengths. It is also known to suspend two rolls of comparatively small lengths on one common transverse bar. The fixing devices are mounted in the garages, and the manufacturer of the items delivers the items being wound up to form a roll. The roll is wrapped up in a piece of foil to protect the roll during transport to the garage. It is also known to use an outer cardboard box to protect the roll during transport. The roll is then removed from the cardboard box, and it is suspended on the transverse bar. It is disadvantageous that the fixing device being made of metal is designed as a comparatively expensive and complicated element. Assembly of the known apparatus is rather difficult, and it requires use of a drilling jig to reliably attain the horizontal distance between the two consoles. Additionally, the maximum length of the rolls is limited by the respective horizontal distance between the two supporting elements. Since the two supporting elements have to be mounted outside of the actual length of the roll, the known fixing device is rather long. Consequently, it requires a lot of space. The known supporting elements in the form of consoles at least have to protrude from the wall such that the bearings supporting the transverse bars have a distance with respect to the wall which is more than the radius of the thickest roll to be suspended. The rolls are supported in the known apparatus in an unprotected way. This means that they are subjected to dirt, paint, mist in garages where automobiles are painted and the like. This has a negative effect on the functionality of the items. Such rolls of plastic foil tend to show frictional electricity effects, and they attract dust in the garage, the dust later being transmitted to the element of the automobile to be protected, for example a seat. Handling of the rolls requires the use of two hands and certain skills. The rolls are suspended on the transverse bars to be freely rotatable such that it is necessary to secure the roll with one hand, and to pull with the other hand to tear one item apart from the roll of items.
Such known apparatuses including a fixing device and at least a roll are not only known as wall supports—meaning to be fixed to a wall—but also in the form of stands to be located in the middle of a room. In such a case, the fixing device includes two supporting elements or columns substantially extending in a vertical direction between which transverse bars are located on which the rolls are suspended. It is to be understood that such a stand requires a complicated bottom construction to make it possible to place the apparatus in the middle of a garage. The bottom construction may also include rollers to make it possible to roll the stand inside of the garage. Such known fixing devices include two additional supporting bars being placed on the surface of the rolls and serving to stabilize the roll to a certain extent due to their weight. When two rolls of different diameters are suspended on one transverse bar, there only is support of the thicker roll. Such additional elements substantially raise the cost of the known fixing device. At the same time, there are the disadvantages which have been described above with respect to the fixing device to be connected to a wall.
It is also known to place a roll of items in an outer cardboard box to transport the roll from the manufacturer to the garage where the items will be used. The cardboard box includes a slot serving to remove the beginning of the roll. It is then possible to pull the beginning of the roll out of the cardboard box, to tear apart the respective perforation and to use the removed item in the desired way. The roll remains located in the cardboard box in a protected way during this kind of use. However, the cardboard box has to be stored somewhere in the garage. It is not possible to suspend one or more of such cardboard boxes including rolls of items in an orderly way one above the other or one next to the other.